I managed to miss the first band of the night, so my first taste is Drowned in Flames who play metal like the world stopped turning in 1991. Long hair, groove, pretty good riffs – they’re not half bad until the open their mouths. They don’t unleash hardcore vocals as such, instead they seem to summon the spirit of a cat being tortured by an angry dog, miss any sense of phrasing or timing and then unleash it awkwardly over what was up until then pretty catchy and effective but standard pub metal. It’s a cacophony and predictably only the bands 3 mates at the front look interested. About 10 people look embarrassed and everyone else ignores them. Which is a shame, with a decent vocalist they’d not be half bad. 2/5

The Computers are a band who I’ve only heard good things about, but sadly they turn out to be this years Kinesis. Matching white outfits, bluster and swagger, the odd good riff, a bucket load of style…. underpinned by little substance. Huge promise… but going through the motions. It’s not all bad, they channel the spirit of McClusky in places, and some of the riffs are huge…. but the constant “I’m well punk me” posturing soon gets boring and stale. 3/5

Cancer Bats are great. They rage unrelentlessly for a good 45 minutes, and lay waste in their element. I’m not Cancer Bats biggest fan on record, I found Birthing The Giant a bit samey, and I’ve seen them in bigger venues where they’ve appeared a little lost. Within 10 seconds of starting though Liam Cormier is in the crowd and pretty much stays there. Watching the band tear up Fibbers makes me wonder why they even bother recording CD’s or supporting bigger bands in bigger venues – seeing them in a dive like this makes you really appreciate just how powerful their muscular metal can be, and with the entire crowd getting stuck in you begin to appreciate every breakdown and every rhythm change – it’s certainly exciting enough to make a cynic like me go out and pick up Birthing The Giant for the second time. 5/5

SEE more of our Reviews

Posted by

paul

Paul, otherwise known as Sav, is quite possibly the only member of the Punktastic team to actually have a proper job. But don't hold that against him. He's actually a proper journalist, (a reporter for a daily northern paper) and so adds a bit of credence to the team. Except you wouldn't think that by reading his reviews. Maybe somebody should tell him that it is quality and not quantity that counts!
Sav actually ended up working for Punktastic after meeting Nick at university, and the pair bonded over all things punk rock. Another guitarist, he also "writes a lot of songs about relationships, and how mine went wrong." Oh, and he loves the Ataris, if you hadn't already noticed. In his spare time he worships at the church of Kris Roe...
Other fave bands include: MxPx, New Found Glory, Blink 182, Weezer, Midtown, Reel Big Fish, The Get Up Kids, Alkaline Trio, NOFX, Green Day, Deftones, Lit and Silverchair to name but a few.
Hobbies include, sleeping, drinking, eating fish and supporting Grimsby Town FC. But hey, somebody has to.